Category Archives: Cupcakes

Spiced Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting – Vegan

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Ok I am starting.  I am diving into fall recipes.  I thought what better way to start than with some pumpkin spice cupcakes, right?  With creamy maple  ”cream cheese” frosting?  Yesterday I said I was craving all things fall, and these cupcakes sure hit the spot.  Also, since I said I would try to hit them in a healthier way, I cut out refined sugars, cut the fat, and of course made them vegan.  So not only are these fluffy, spicy, moist cupcakes absolutely delicious, they aren’t completely sinful (they only taste that way)!

So did I sell you yet?  You really should make these, like today, or tonight.  Promise you won’t regret it ;-)

Spiced Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting – Vegan

Dry ingredients – mix in a medium bowl:

  • 2 cups whole wheat, unbleached flour
  • 1/2 cup raw, organic brown sugar (or brown coconut sugar or Sucanat)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp all spice

Liquid ingredients – mix in another medium bowl:

  • 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoon ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoons warm water) – Mix the flax eggs first and set aside.  Need about 5 minutes to “gel” before mixing with other ingredients
  • 1/2 cup melted vegan “butter” – I use Earth Balance soy free
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1 can organic pumpkin pie mix*
  • 1 tablespoon almond milk
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350.  Grease mini muffin tin.
  2. After combining liquid ingredients, add the dry ingredients to the liquid bowl.  Mix well.
  3. Spoon batter into cupcake tin.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (about 25 +/- if using regular tin).

{ army of cupcakes }

 

Maple “Cream Cheese” Frosting:

  • 1 cup “powdered” sugar (see process below)
  • 1 8 oz container of tofutti
  • 1/2 tsp maple syrup
  • Generous dash of cinnamon
  1. For powdered sugar, without using a super processed, bleached, typical powdered sugar, you can easily make your own healthier version.  Simply take a cup of raw, unprocessed, organic sugar (or Sucanat) and 1 tsp cornstarch.  Process in a Vitamix (super fast) or regular blender.  Should take under a minute.  Pulse until you get the consistency you want.  How easy is that?
  2. Now combine all the frosting ingredients in a bowl with a hand mixer.
  3. When cupcakes have cooled, using a knife or piping bag, frost up and enjoy!

 

I absolutely love pumpkin spice!  What are some of your favorite fall treats?

Red Velvet Cupcakes!

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Helloooooo Friday, Friday the 13th!!!  It’s uncharacteristically gloomy and stormy here is Southern California.  Perfect for this day.  All I want to do is curl up and watch some scary movies, which would no doubt keep me up all night (I’m a huge baby).  Might have to save that until the sun goes down and I have my dog to protect me. Until then, I’m finishing up some work, organizing, and packing for my week-long trip to the Bay Area.  I.CAN’T.WAIT.  I’ll be helping on my brother’s farm, doing a little wine tasting in Sonoma/Russian River, and visiting with old friends in San Francisco.  Seriously, can’t wait until Monday :-)

I decided to whip up some treats for my boys at work, and what better than Red Velvet cupcakes for Friday the 13th?  These were so easy, only use one bowl, and they are Vegan!  Woop!

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes with “Cream Cheese” Frosting

(Adapted from: The Cake Merchant)

You will need:

  • 1 Tablespoon ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoons warm water
  • 1/2 cup non dairy milk mixed with 1 tablespoon fresh lemon
  • 1 1/4 cups unbleached whole wheat all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 Tablespoons melted coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup almond milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp white vinegar
  • several drops red food coloring , add until reach desired color

“Cream Cheese” Frosting:

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted lightly to remove any lumps
  • 1 (8-ounce) package vegan cream cheese, at room temperature – I use Tofutti
  • 1/2 cup vegan butter – I use Earth Balance unsalted
  • 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

  • Pre-heat oven to 350 F
  • In 2 small bowls, mix ground flax and water in one, and non dairy milk and lemon in the other.  Set aside to develop.
  • In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.  With a hand mixer, blend in coconut oil, almond milk, vanilla, and vinegar on slow for a minute and then high for a few minutes.  Blend in red coloring on high.
  • Spoon into cupcake tins.
  • Bake for 18-20 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  • While baking, prepare frosting.  Beat “cream cheese” and “butter” until fluffy.  Slowly add sugar and vanilla.  Beat for a couple of minutes.
  • When cupcakes are completely cooled, frost.
  • Enjoy!!!

 

Mini Nutella Brownie Bites

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I’ll make this simple, this is a slightly guilty treat.  I do try to make my baked goods as healthy as possible, but per request of my man, I had to use Nutella.  And it’s fun to splurge sometimes.  It’s  all about moderation, right?  Yes, I think so ;-)

Since Nutella is soooo rich, and DELICIOUS, I used agave instead of sugar since it’s natural and I wanted to cut back on the sweetness.  I also decided to make them mini to make them feel a little less guilty.  But that kinda leads to eating a few.  Maybe that’s just us?  So try them mini, or regular size.  Use agave or try brown sugar.  Just try them, Nutella, Nutella, Nutella, it’s all good!

What you will need:

  • 1 Tbsp ground flax
  • 3 Tbsp warm water
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp melted coconut oil
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp non-dairy milk of choice – I use almond milk
  • 3/4 cup Nutella
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup Agave
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup vegan “butter” melted – I use Earth Balance
  • optional powdered sugar for sprinkling on top

Directions to Mini Nutella Brownie Bites:

Preheat oven to 325ºF and grease mini muffin tin (or regular muffin tin or brownie square tin).

In a small bowl or cup, mix ground flax and water.  Set aside to form gel like mixture (serves as egg for binding).

In another small bowl, mix flour and salt.  Set aside.

In a big bowl, mix gelled flax mixture, coconut oil, and almond milk for a few seconds with electric mixture.  Mix in Nutella, agave and vanilla until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add the flour mixture and butter.

Spoon into muffin tin or spread in square tin.  For mini tin, bake about 15-18 minutes, or toothpick comes out clean.  Regular tin or square should probably take about 30 min.  Remove and sprinkle with powdered sugar while cooling.  Enjoy!!!

 

 

Do you all love Nutella as much as my guy?  He’s totally mildly obsessed.

**if you want to make these vegan, use vegan hazelnut spread instead of Nutella.  Available at most health food stores

Lavender Cupcakes

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Along with the great weather we had last weekend, we got to celebrate those beautiful, loving, selfless women we call MOM!  We had some family in town, along with all my brothers and the bf, which added to how special the day was.  I could NEVER do anything grand enough to show my love and appreciation for what my mommy (yep, still call her that, or Cindyloo) does for me, buuuut my baking is a good start.  She’s got a sweet tooth like her little girl ;-)

She LOVES Lavender and often times smells of it.  I decided to try my luck with baking it.  I admit, I was more than a little hesitant.  It’s a lovely, soothing scent, but I wasn’t sure if it would taste too bitter or earthly.  I even tasted a couple buds before, a tiny bit bitter, but very mild in taste.

Surprise!  They turned out delicious.  Didn’t rise too much though, but everyone agreed they were yummy and unique.  And they don’t have to say they like everything.  They are family, they can be honest, right??  It wouldn’t totally devastate hurt my feeling at all :-) But really, they were totally tasty!


Lavender Cupcakes with Honey Buttercream Frosting

Makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup vegan “butter” – I use Earth Balance
  • 1 cup sugar – try using raw, organic
  • 1/4 cup oil – I use coconut oil, melted
  • 2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons almond milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons dried lavender buds, chopped
  • 2/3 cup of almond milk
  • several drops of red and blue food coloring

For the Honey Buttercream Frosting:

Adapted from : Savory sweet life

  • 1/2 cup vegan “butter” I use Earth Balance
  • 8 ounces of vegan cream cheese substitute – I use Tofutti
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons of honey – omit if making completely vegan

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tin with cupcake liner.  Should make 12.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together.  Add in coconut oil and 2 tablespoons of the almond milk.  Mix until well combined. 

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in lavender buds.

Mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Stir in the milk and food coloring drops.  Start with 4 drops of each color and add until you reach desired purple color. 

Scoop batter into cupcake lined tin.  Bake for 20-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Remove and let cool completely.

Frosting:
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the “butter” and “cream cheese”. Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing on low.  Beat until creamy.  Beat in the vanilla extract and honey.

Scoop frosting into a piping bag fitted with tip of choice, or just spread them over the cooled cupcakes. Enjoy!!

Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Frosting Cupcake!

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Oh Hello Cupcake,

I have this wonderful friend.  Her dad is a beekeeper and his little worker bees produce some amazing honey.  Like the wildflower honey.  I love it…MMMMM!  I know technically vegans don’t eat honey, but I dont mind it.  It’s raw and natural straight from the farm, nothing like that little honey bear I so loved from childhood.  Do you remember that honey bear from the grocery store?  He’s probably still there, I thought he was adorable.

So ya, my sweet, sweet friend brought me AND my honey (hehe) each our OWN jars.  So kind of her.  It’s even been making its way into some smoothies.  This stuff is good!  I thought a brown sugar cupcake with PB frosting (adapted from: http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/03/brown-sugar-cupcakes-with-peanut-butter-brown-sugar-frosting/)would be the perfect thank you!  maybe even drizzled with some of that amazing honey!?  I don’t know, I like to get crazy ;-)

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For the cupcakes, you will need:

  • 1 1/2 cups of unbleached flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 cup loosely packed organic brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons oil ( I used coconut)
  • 2 tablespoons non dairy milk ( I used soy milk)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup non dairy milk ( I used almond milk here)
  • 1/2 cup vegan buttery spread (melted) I used Earth Balance)

For the Frosting, you will need:

  • 6 ounces vegan “cream cheese” you can find a version at most health food stores
  • 1/2 organic, creamy peanut butter
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup organic brown sugar
  • 1 cup organic powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt buttery spread and put aside to cool.

In a bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

In a larger bowl, whisk brown sugar, oil and 3 tablespoons of non dairy milk until well combined. Add vanilla extract and 3/4 cup of non dairy milk.  Mix until combined. Whisk in buttery spread. Lastly, add in flour mixture and whisk until well combined.

Line baking tins cupcake liners.  spoon batter 3/4 full.  Bake for about 18  minutes, until tops are golden.  Test to make sure toothpick comes out clean.  Remove and let cool.

While cooling, prepare Peanut Butter Frosting

Beat “cream cheese”, peanut butter, and vanilla until creamy.  Slowly add in sugars and mix until well combined.  Frost once cupcakes are cooled and ENJOY!!

xo – gigi

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